Submitted by Manuel Psaila

Submitted by Matthew Mifsud

Like most Maltese surnames, SULTANA seems to be of Italian origin. In my quest to find the history of my surname, I have come across writings by various scholars. Individually they are all credible, but collectively they create some confusion. One has to consider that the spelling of certain names has changed quite considerably over the time.
Fact: SULTANA is a common Gozitan surname, the majority hailing from the village of Xaghra. (SULTANA is also an Indian (Muslim) surname and a quick look at the British and American phone books will quickly convince you of this fact. The bulk of the first names are Indian. These Indians came originally from Persia, now Iran).


What scholars and others say about SULTANA:

De Soldanis 1712 - 1770 (Can. G.P.F. Agius Sultana): In one of his manuscripts he wrote: "...il cognome di una casa da Firenze e Napoli passata in Malta, indi al Gozo, ove procreo tutti coloro che portano il cognome di Sultana... Cio segui da tre secoli a questa parte". De Soldanis says that Sultana came to Malta, then Gozo, from Florence and Naples and that it has been around on the islands for three hundred odd years (since the 1400's). I managed to find a transcript of the Catasto di Firenze 1427-1429, which is a combined census / land register for Florence. I found two families with the name SOLDANI and my assumption is that de Soldanis was referring to these families as his ancestors. Is this why he Latinised his name to de SOLDANIS?

Prof. Stanley Fiorini: In his paper 'The 1551 Siege of Gozo and the Repopulation of the Island', the Professor states that a Sicilian, Petrus de SOLTANO, came to Malta in 1569. He continues: 'The occurrence of Petrus de Soltano Siculus et habitator terre et Insule Gaudisii both represents the earliest appearance of the common Gozitan surname SULTANA as well answers the enigmatic absence, noted by Wettinger, of this seemingly Semitic surname from medieval lists'.

Joseph Borg - Genealogist (Malta): Could not find any references to Soltano, but found an Onofrio SOLITANO who married a Giovanella Coleiro in Vittoriosa on the 2 June 1583. OnofrioÍs father was Lucio and that was the only marriage with that surname. The earliest SULTANA marriage was that of Giovanni Sultana and Margherita Mintuf on the 7 October 1629 at Porto Salvo, Valletta. The parents of Giovanni were Nicola and Giulia.

The Historical Research Centre Inc. (USA): They state SULTANA is derived from the medieval nickname 'sultano' which has been documented since the 1200's in Liguria and in Tuscany as 'sultanus', derived from the Arabic 'sultan' which means 'king' or 'prince'. Variants of the name include Soldano, Soldani and Soldanieri.

Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges: In their 'Dictionary of Surnames' published by Oxford University, they claim that SULTANA is derived from the old French word soudan meaning sultan. Variants include: England: Sowden, Soden; France: Soudan; Italy: Soldano, Soldan(i) and Sultan(a); Hungary: Zoltan.

Gozitan Legend: The Grandmaster, in those days called 'is-sultan', was on his daily walk when he came across this young Gozitan lass doing the family washing. The Grandmaster seduced the young woman and she fell pregnant. When her child was born it was nicknamed 'tas-SULTANA' and that is how, most Gozitans who carry the surname claim, the name originated.